Léon Marchand back in competition in France at Montauban with an insolent lead

SWIMMING – King Leo establishes his domination. Swimmer Léon Marchand, quadruple Olympic champion at the Games in Paris, made his return to competition in France during the Montauban interclubs this Sunday, November 10. He crushed his opponents.

For this regional tournament which is his only competition in France, the swimmer returned to his club Dauphins du TOEC in Toulouse. He notably took part in the 200m breaststroke, a race in which he won… with an 11 second lead. His time of 2 min 06 sec 12/100 is nevertheless four seconds off his French record.

He finished ahead of Joan Massot, a swimmer from Montpellier who spoke after his race: “I'm sticking to my goal, Léon, what he's doing is too monstrous, he's too far away, but it gives extra pressure, it's a pleasure to compete alongside the world record holder. »

A competition closed to the public

For this (almost) return home, Léon Marchand wanted to go incognito. This was made easier by the fact that the competition was not open to the public. Only the approximately 500 swimmers taking part in the races were able to benefit from the presence of the champion.

Although he has been training for several years in the United States at Arizona State University, Léon Marchand remains at the same time licensed from his Toulouse club. The swimmer will soon return to meet his coach Bob Bowman, former coach of champion Michael Phelps, at the University of Texas, his new school.

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